Huntress III
by mayuzumichihiro
Summary: -READ AFTER HUNTRESS II- Life goes on no matter what, and it's Adenah's turn to have a voice. -COMPLETE-
1. Chapter 1

**And here it is! The one you've been waiting for! I give you... Huntress III!**

**I still haven't got the storyline completely down in my head. To be honest, I had no idea how Huntress II was going to end until I was about ¾ of the way through. It was as much a surprise to me as it was to my lovely and loyal readers. I was planning to do Huntress III in Morgead's point of view, but I was rereading 'How to Burn a House' and thought how much fun it would be to do a similar one, but with Adenah and Morgead as the main characters. I was going to make this just into a one-shot, but when I'd finished hanging up the washing and started writing, I had the idea to make it into Huntress III. I'm having a lot of fun making Adenah's character. And Rose's. They're polar opposites, but remind me of myself and one of my closest friends. I'm more like Adenah... Not sure whether that's a good thing! Now, back to my main point. There were supposed to be 4 that I wrote, up to Huntress V. As I mentioned before, III was going to be in Morgead's POV, and I've got a couple that I started like that, picking up a couple of days after Jez's death and going very quickly up to the age she is in this chapter, which is three weeks from being 12, but none of them worked, so I put it to rest whilst I focused on a book I'm hoping to publish. Huntress IV was going to be a mixture of POVs, depending on the circumstance. Huntress V was going to be completely in Adenah's POV, and Morgead wasn't really going to be in it much. Now, though, I'm almost completely decided to put Huntress III and IV together, and the original Huntress V will be the reinvented Huntress IV. Although, anyone who wants to write the epilogue of Huntress II in Morgead's POV, about how he felt when Jez died is welcome to. Actually, that would be interesting to read. Please do! Review or PM me, and I'll review your work.**

**Anyway, I'll stop rambling and let you read. Don't forget to tell me what you thought of it, and ESPECIALLY about Adenah's character. I want to make her very concrete in everyone's minds, so tell me whether you love her, hate her, and how to make her better. I really don't mind if you tell me you hate her, because I hate her sometimes when I'm thinking up stories for her!**

**I don't own Night World, but I do own the storyline, Adenah, Rose, Lustucru and Astrid.**

**Chapter 1**

I could smell the burning before I even got into the house.

It was most likely my heightened senses, but the stench was so strong that I was surprised that Rose couldn't smell it. She kept on talking about how much she hoped Daniel would ask her to the disco. I couldn't see how he wouldn't. With her straight blonde hair falling ruler-straight to the middle of her back and her bright blue eyes a few shades lighter than my own, she was the type that most boys fell over worshipping as soon as they regained control of their bodies.

She noticed, though, when I stopped and glanced curiously into my driveway. Thankfully, the two motorbikes and car were still in the driveway, so dad hadn't gone out... Not that he went out much anyway. He'd kinda been on this never-ending depression ever since I could remember.

"Are you okay, Adenah?" Rose said. She frowned when I didn't answer. "I'm not a vampire, Adenah. I can't read your mind."

That's what I am, by the way. A vampire. Three quarters, anyway. Rose knows this because her adoptive parents are the famous Hannah and Thierry, whom I've known my entire life.

"I'll call you later, okay? See you tomorrow."

"I thought you were going to help me with Astrid?"

Astrid is Rose's horse. If he can be called that. He's so well-bred and well-trained that he probably cost more than their entire mansion.

I glanced back towards the house, unable to stop the worry gnawing at my stomach. "I'll take a raincheck for today."

"You'd better call me," she said. She hugged me goodbye quickly, and waved as I walked onto the small porch. I stroked my cat, who was sitting on the futon right next to the door. He miaowed in greeting before going straight back to sleep. The door stuck as I opened it, as it always did. The smell hit me harder as I walked down the hallway, throwing my schoolbag on a chair and my leather jacket on the banister.

"Dad?" I called out.

"In here!" he called back.

I frowned as I placed his voice. He was in the kitchen. What was he doing in the kitchen?

"What are you doing?" I said as I opened the door. What could only be described as a wall of smoke drifted out, setting off the smoke alarm.

I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face, squinting against the smoke.

"Cooking," I heard dad say. I rolled my eyes and moved to the window, opening it as wide as I could. I heard dad sigh and turned to look at him as he moved over to the door and moved it back and forth, encouraging the smoke to go out into the hallway and disperse through open windows. The smoke alarm finally stopped.

"I thought you were meant to go round Rose's house tonight," he said, shutting the door and leaning back against it.

I kept quiet that I'd been worried about him; he always got annoyed when I voiced my concerns about him being alone all the time, usually shouting that he should be protecting me, not the other way round.

But when your father's eyes are so wounded and sad all the time, you can't help but be protective.

"We decided to do it later."

I moved to the oven, where an oven dish of... _something_ was still giving off little puffs of black smoke.

"I didn't know when to take it out," dad said, a hint of desperation to his voice.

I felt a smile tugging on my lips. "Usually before it looks like _that_." I said, fighting back a laugh. I picked up a couple of oven mitts and carried the oven dish to the sink, turning the cold water onto it. "At least nothing exploded this time," I joked.

He crossed his arms and frowned at me, though I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

"I'm just not a natural at cooking."

"That's an understatement."

"Oh, fine; I'm terrible at cooking! I just wanted to do something for your birthday."

"My birthday's in three weeks."

"I'm practising."

I couldn't hold back the laugh this time.

"You know I think it's not fair that you have to do all the cooking around here. You're only eleven, Adenah."

"And as all my teachers say, I act more mature than most teenagers. Anyway, I'm twelve in less than a month."

He smiled, with a strange mixture of sadness and happiness that he always got whenever I mentioned my birthday. When I was younger, I asked my Aunt Claire (she wasn't really my aunt, but that was what I'd called her my entire life) why he always looked like that at the mention of that day. She had answered, "because your birthday was also his wedding anniversary."

He picked up another pan full of something which I was sure could look nice if it wasn't completely unrecognisable, then let out a yelp of pain and dropped it with a clang.

I fought back another laugh. "That's hot, dad. Here." I took hold of his arm and put his hand under the cold water. It was already healing, though at a slower pace than most vampires. Apparently this was because he didn't drink human blood anymore, but my theory was that the depression made it harder for him to heal himself as effectively as he could have if mum was still alive.

I got some fruit from the basket on the kitchen counter. "Why is it that I always feel like I'm your mother?" I joked. Thoughtlessly.

He managed to hide the flinch, and, only a second too late looked up and smiled, but I could almost read his mind.

_Idiot_. I learnt ages ago never to joke about mothers. Whenever I did, he would get such a wounded look in his eyes.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, until I quickly said that I had homework to do.

I fled to the porch, not bothering to pick up my bag. The homework was just a pretext. I sat on the futon. Lustucru, my black cat, waved his twisted tail before picking his way to me and settling himself onto my lap. I stroked one of his paws with one hand and scratched behind his ear with the other. He purred with pleasure.

Sometimes, I couldn't help but hate my father for his never-ending depression. Aunt Claire, who was the only person I told everything to, said that it wasn't really his fault. He'd known my mother since he was five years old, and according to Claire had fallen in love with her from the beginning. She didn't know much about it, but apparently they'd been Soulmates.

Soulmates were nothing extraordinary to me. My dad was in Circle Daybreak, and I knew a whole bunch of people who had Soulmates. My dad was the only one, though, who was separated from his.

No-one really talked about how my mum had died. The only time I'd asked Claire, she'd said that I was too young to be able to understand, and I definitely couldn't ask dad.

"Adenah?" I heard in a familiar voice that I couldn't place for a second. I jumped and forced myself to focus on the person.

Raven. Another person that my dad had known most of his life. I smiled at her. "Hey."

"Hey. Is your dad in?"

"Yeah, he is," I said, opening the door. I gently picked up Lustucru from my lap and placed him next to me. "Could you tell him that I've gone to Rose's?" I asked, feeling an urge to escape for a while.

"Sure," she said as I stood up and brushed myself off.

The Descoudres mansion was a couple of blocks away, but it was so massive I could see it from my bedroom window.

I didn't bother going into the house, just went straight to the small row of modern stables round the corner. Rose was brushing the massive grey horse with firm strokes, and heard me when I opened the half-door.

"Oh, you did come," she said with a smile. Astrid nudged my hands for a treat so I gave him a polo.

"Yeah, because I couldn't bear to be at home. I made a stupid comment about how I'm almost like his mother, the way I look after him. He got this wounded look in his eyes."

"You didn't leave him alone, did you?" Rose said.

"Of course not. Raven's there."

I rubbed Astrid's forehead before picking up a brush and helping Rose get him clean.

"Well, you know that this time of year is difficult for him," she said. Rose is understanding like that. She takes after her adoptive mother.

According to Raven, I take after my mother, so I blame that when I immediately say, "_Every_ time of year is difficult for him."

She gives me a pitying look before saying, "Do you want to jump Astrid whilst I muck out his stable?"

I look at her incredulously. "How is that fair for _you?"_

"I honestly don't mind. You need a little pick-me-up, and what's better than jumping a horse?"

I smiled, "Thank you. You're really an amazing friend, you know."

"I know," she answered with a half smile.

She was completely right about jumping a horse being the best pick-me-up there is. As I cleared the final fence in the course I'd set up I didn't feel worried about anything.

I offered to clean Astrid's tack, because I didn't feel right about leaving Rose to clean his stable whilst I got the good part of owning a horse. She bustled about in the tack room, tidying and cleaning everything else and we talked about how she could get Daniel's attention. As I finished cleaning the stirrup leathers she looked at me with a slight smile.

"Don't think I haven't noticed that you haven't told me which boy you want to go with," she said.

"That's because I don't want to go with anyone," I said.

This was completely true. I'd had one 'boyfriend' in the past, and had no desire to repeat the experience.

"Fair enough. Wait until you find your Soulmate, then?" she said. She stuck her tongue out at me.

I laughed as I got up and put the saddle on the peg and ran up the stirrups. "I'd feel sorry for him."

"Aww, c'mon. You're a great person!"

"Around you, maybe. Sorta." I sighed. "I just don't think I could leave my dad alone. I don't know whether he could cope with that."

She bit her lip.

"I don't have to think about this now, Rose. I'm only eleven."

She nodded and hugged me. "Almost twelve. I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

"Tomorrow," I agreed, before leaving and making my way back to my own house.

Lustucru was still lounged on the futon. I picked him up and carried him inside.

I could hear voices coming from the sitting room and made my way over there. Dad was there, with Raven and her husband, Val.

It took me a couple of seconds before I sensed the tension in the room. I looked at all of them, noticing that Raven had her arms crossed and was frowning at dad, whilst he was glaring angrily at her. Val was completely relaxed; he smiled at me as I came in then started whistling softly under his breath.

"What's going on?" I said. Val stopped whistling and coughed before sending me a warning look. I glanced at him before turning to Raven.

"You're going to stay with your mother's uncle for a while," dad said.

I frowned as I looked at him. "Why?"

I'd met my mother's uncle, Bracken, a few times. All I knew about him was that he raised my mother, and was probably the closest thing I had to a grandfather. My dad didn't have any family left apart from me, and my mother's parents died ages ago.

Bracken would come very rarely, and always for a short time. I guessed he didn't really know what to do with his ex-son-in-law and great-niece. I didn't mind, though. I never knew what to do with him.

"Raven had a stupid idea-"

"It's not stupid, Morgead."

"-that you should find out more about your mother in a round-about way."

I gazed at them for a moment.

"Huh?" I said.

Raven started, "Bracken has videos which I think your father wouldn't want to see-"

"And what makes you think that?"

"Because they're about you and Jez back when you were worst enemies, or best friends... or whatever the heck you were when you were trading leadership of the gang," Val interjected.

Everyone was quiet for a second.

"Val-" Raven began quietly as dad was glaring at him. Val looked at them both innocently.

"What gang?" I asked.

Dad pushed a hand through his hair as Raven and Val looked at me incredulously.

"You haven't even told her _that?_" Raven and Val said simultaneously. It would have been funny in different circumstances.

"Told me what?" I said, fighting to stop myself from screaming at them. As it went, I did come off exasperated. None of them were making any sense!

They ignored me, which didn't help.

"I try not to remember how I was back then..." dad said weakly.

"Oh, great. You thought it best to offload it on her all in one go?" I didn't think I'd ever seen Raven so angry.

"I didn't think I'd have to tell her," dad's voice was soft and dangerous, and for a second his eyes flashed almost pure silver. I knew from experience with vampires that if he bared his teeth, they would be as sharp as needles.

I shrank back. It wasn't that I'd never seen him in hunting mode before; we both had to drink animal blood to survive, but I'd never seen him look so ready to tear someone apart before, which at that moment he seemed almost pleased to do.

He seemed to hear me move away from him and immediately turned to me. His eyes went back to the normal green and instead filled with chagrin. "Adenah?" he said in an almost pleading voice.

I did what felt natural, which was to lean my head against his shoulder. He put his arms around me.

"What gang?" I repeated.

No-one responded for a second, then Raven started explaining.

"Before your mother knew that she was half-human, she was in a gang with your father, me and Val, another girl called Thistle and a boy called Pierce."

It might have been my imagination, but I felt dad's arms tense around me for a second at that name.

"We would track down human gangs who killed people and, well... kill them ourselves," Val said with a grin. "Illegally," he added, almost smug about it.

"You used to kill humans?"

"Yes." Raven took back up the story. "Your father and Jez had known each other for several years before I met her, and that's when we formed the gang. They were always very..." Raven paused, as if looking for a diplomatic word, "confrontational. Most of the time, they traded off leadership of the gang at regular intervals, unless the other didn't want to give it up, in which case the fighting sticks would come out-"

"To be honest, that happened more times than the rest of us were comfortable with," Val said. He gave a short laugh.

"They were both pretty bad leaders, though," Raven said. Val burst out laughing as dad said, "What?" incredulously over the top of my head.

"It's true, Morgead. You were always trying to impress Jez, and, well... she was always trying to one-up you. You realise I almost died a few times? Anyway, that's the basic story," she said, turning back to me.

I blinked. It was all I could get myself to do.

"You hunted illegally... in Night World terms?"

I pulled away from dad to get a better look at him. He watched me carefully, and, as always, sadly. He nodded once.

"Doesn't that merit death?" I asked.

He gave a small smile, which was on the borderline of being a smirk. "Yep," he said, almost cheerily.

I rolled my eyes at him; he could be so immature sometimes. Then looked at him a bit closer.

"Do you want me to go see Bracken?" I asked him seriously. I wanted to know more; this small part of my mother's history had got me interested in her.

"Not really," he admitted honestly. "But I want you to know who Jez was, and what she did. I don't think I'll be able to tell you much of it. I think you should go, Adenah."

_What did she do? _I thought. I didn't ask dad, though. His eyes looked at me as if they were a million years old and had seen way too much.

I searched his face carefully, then nodded. "Okay. I'll go."


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Night World.**

**Chapter 2**

Dad helped me pack everything I needed the next day and called Bracken. We were both sitting in my room that day.

"You know, I can stay. I'm sure Raven can tell me everything about mum," I said. I really didn't like leaving him alone for more than a couple of days.

"She hasn't got the videos, which apparently Bracken has. I don't remember him taking any..." he trailed of into silence, his eyes distant.

They suddenly snapped back to mine. "You need to go, Adenah. You're old enough now. It's important."

I was startled by the sudden intensity in his expression and his words, but controlled myself and nodded. I knew there was not point asking him about it. "I'm going to miss you," I said to him.

He pulled me into a hug. "Me too," he said, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. "You can call me whenever you want. And you'll only be gone a couple of weeks."

"I can't believe that you're letting me miss school," I said jokily. I heard him laugh.

"It's important," he said softly.

"Why do you keep on saying that?" I pulled back from him to see that, again, his eyes were distant.

He stayed quiet for a minute as I started scowling at him, then smiled at me and said, "it's late; go to sleep."

"Fine..." I muttered as I climbed under the duvet. He kissed my forehead and said, "I love you, sweetheart."

"Love you too, dad."

He left, turning off the light. I counted to ten before I got out of bed again and searched in my wardrobe.

We didn't have many pictures of mum around the house; dad mostly kept them in his room, but Raven had given me an album that she had made. I got it out and climbed back into bed, arranging the pillow more comfortably. I ran my fingers over the soft leather before opening it to the first page.

I could just about see the pictures from the light coming through my half-open door and the chinks in the curtains. There weren't many, no more than thirty.

They started when she was about my age. Like always, I was almost surprised how much she looked like me, only with bright red hair. They were mostly of her with dad, though a couple were just her.

After, it went onto when they were several years older than me. In the pictures that they were together, they were usually separated by a couple of metres.

The last three were my favourite. One was on them on their wedding day, exactly a year before I was born. Mum looked beautiful in a simple lace and silk wedding dress with a square neckline, and dad was happier than I'd ever seen him. The next was one of her holding me, probably just after I was born. She looked exhausted, but blissful. The final one in the book was of all of us. Mum was holding me and dad had his arms around us both. That one was my favourite.

I looked at it for a few minutes before closing it and sliding it under my bed. It took a long time before I finally fell asleep.

I woke up after what seemed like years, having had strange dreams of bright blue flashes and the desert just outside Las Vegas, which we lived less than fifty metres from. I checked the time, quarter to seven, and got ready for the last day of school before I went to San Francisco tomorrow. It was already hot outside, and I could see the heat waves rising from the ground outside. I tied up my hair before grabbing a piece of bread and calling bye to dad as I went outside.

Rose was already waiting outside on the porch, stroking a lounging Lustucru.

"What's happening, then?" she asked. I'd called her the day before about going to San Francisco, but hadn't known much myself at the time.

"I'm leaving tomorrow for two weeks, to find out more about mum," I said as we made our way down the street. I checked behind me to make sure dad hadn't come out. "To be perfectly honest, I don't see how I can't learn about her at home. I hardly even know Bracken."

"So you'll miss the disco?"

I nodded. "But tell me when and how Daniel asks you," I said, grinning at her.

"Huh. No point. He's going with someone else."

"What?"

"I know. I guess you were wrong."

"He's an idiot."

"No, he's not. He just doesn't like me," she said calmly.

"If I were you I'd be planning revenge against the girl he's going with."

She laughed. "I know. And I would have stopped you."

I stuck out my tongue at her. "What fun is that?"

The day passed quickly, and before I knew it we were walking back home and I was going in. Rose waved goodbye and carried on down the road as I walked in, relieved by how cool it was inside. Dad was thankfully not cooking, just sitting on the sofa, not moving.

He turned when he heard me, though. I went to sit next to him.

"How was school?" he asked.

"Fine. Same as always."

"Did Daniel ask Rose yet?" he smiled wryly.

"No. He's going with someone else," I could hear the disbelief in my voice.

He looked at me for a second.

"Who did you want to go with?"

I jumped a bit and glared at him. "No-one. There's no-one even slightly interesting."

He nodded. "Good. You're too young, anyway."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Seriously? You have to know that if I want to go out with someone, I won't ask your permission."

He looked surprised for a minute, then smiled sadly. "Your mother said that very same thing to me once. Only she was right. However, y_ou're_ my daughter, so I'm allowed to tell you who or who not to date."

I rolled my eyes at him before going up to my room, calling behind my shoulder, "I have homework to do."

My room was one of my favourite places in the world. Medium size, with a bed in the corner, a bookshelf right next to it. One wall had the wallpaper covered with pictures of me with friends. Another wall had posters of bands and singers.

I turned on my iPod, turned it onto shuffle, and Paramore started blaring through the docking station. I sang along under my breath as I got the homework out, sighing heavily at the books.

'Miracle' by Paramore turned into 'Check Yes Juliet' by We The Kings as I tried to complete the work quickly.

I gave up halfway through and instead got my guitar from its stand to play along to the next song. The current song morphed to 'Resistance' by Muse and I worked out the base line to play along with chords. It didn't take long to work out. I guessed it was a gift, but I'd been able to do it for so long that I just took it for granted now.

The time sped on to five before I switched off the music and went downstairs. Dad was outside, doing some gardening or something. I joined him to see if he needed help.

"Do you want to hunt tonight?" he asked, not even turning round.

"You should really be more careful. If it hadn't been me you'd be in for a hell of a lot of explaining."

He shot me an amused look over his shoulder. "Do you want to hunt tonight?" he repeated.

I took a blackberry from the bush next to me. "Sure," I said, before throwing it up and catching it in my mouth. "Score..." I said to myself, then got distracted when dad lobbed another blackberry at me. I gasped when it hit my forehead. "Dad!" I shouted, before picking up a small handful of soil and throwing it in his direction. He dodged it easily. "That's not fair," I muttered, crossing my arms. When I looked down I saw a bucket filled with clear water.

"I'm sorry," he said. He didn't sound very sorry. He held out his arms to me.

I considered for a second, then swiftly bent to pick up the bucket and throw it on him. He gasped in shock and staggered back a step, before flashing me a wicked grin. "You asked for it."

Those words made me terrified.

I ran to the other side of the garden and hid behind a tree, watching him as he picked up the hosepipe and turned it on, making his way towards me. I tried to dodge him but he caught hold of my wrist and turned the water onto me, which made me screech a bit. "It's cold, dad!" I managed to gasp out through my laughter.

He switched it off, letting go of my wrist, then dodged easily as I tried to jump for the hosepipe.

The benefit of Las Vegas being so warm all the time, especially in the summer, was that it didn't take long, even at five thirty in the evening, to dry off. We both lay on a dry patch of grass and watched the sky get redder as it neared sunset. When it was completely dark, and we were completely dry, we decided to set off.

We didn't go too far into the desert, because quite a few animals wandered near enough our house. I only took thirty minutes to walk in deeper and find a couple of coyotes, fighting each other.

I went into hunting mode, barely aware of dad doing the same next to me. The coyotes stopped scrapping and growled at us, before one howled. The other joined in quickly, as if it was worried about being outperformed.

I opened my mouth slightly as my canines extended and pounced at the same time as dad.

The coyote I got tried to lunge for my throat. I dodged it and clamped my hand around its muzzle before jerking its head back and to the side to break the neck. It was a bit easier to feed when the animal wasn't fighting.

I could hear the throat quickly slowing down its pulse and darted for it. I drained the animal dry, knowing that if I did, I wouldn't have to hunt for a couple of days.

We put the carcasses under an outcropping of rock, out of sight of someone who would just happen to wonder by and started to make our way back. _Just an ordinary hunting outing between father and daughter, _I thought to myself with a smile.

"Do you want to watch a film when we get back?" he asked.

"So long as I get to choose. I'm not watching James Bond or Top Gun again. I'm pretty sure I'm too young for them anyway."

"Maybe," he muttered, glancing down. I laced my arm through his and leant my head against him. "But those ratings are for humans," he continued. "You just hunted a coyote and drank its blood. We can say that you can deal with the gore."

"Wow. You're such an amazing father," I said sarcastically.

He elbowed me gently. "I know. I am an amazing father," he said distantly, gazing back at the house.

I smirked. "Race you back," I said, breaking away from him.

He laughed. "You're on."

I won, as I always did at the races. I used to get really proud of myself, but then figured that dad probably just let me win. The pride kind of went out of it at that stage.

I chose my favourite film, Mulan, and we both settled back to watch it. I could almost hear him rolling his eyes at every romantic bit, and every song.

"Hey," I said when I got a bit annoyed at him. "Disney films are classics."

"Yeah, right," he answered with mock-severity.

"I'm serious. Didn't you know that the basic story of Mulan is based on a ballad over a thousand years old?"

"No, but I doubt it was a romantic story at the time."

I huffed at him. "You don't have to watch it," I muttered to him. He ignored me and stayed, but didn't roll his eyes again, though every time I looked at him he was smirking.

I went straight to sleep once the film finished, and dad woke me up the next morning. He seemed sad for some reason, though it took me a while to work out why.

"How long will it take to drive to San Francisco?"

"About eight and a half hours," he answered. I groaned and sat up. "Okay," I muttered.

He helped me get everything in the car and we set off.

I didn't mind long car journeys. Nevada was always a beautiful place to live, and it was interesting to spot the wild life. One time, I was certain I saw a small herd of wild horses near the horizon. Dad and I talked a lot. I tried to get him to tell me more about mum, but he didn't budge. The only thing he said was that just after they'd found out that they were Soulmates, Circle Daybreak got everyone they were close to out of San Francisco, but Bracken moved back pretty quickly into his old house, which he had never sold.

The journey went surprisingly fast, and I watched as the desert slowly turned into green, then the hills of the San Andres fault. Suddenly, we found ourselves in San Francisco.

I glanced worriedly at dad, wondering whether he'd be able to hold up. He seemed mostly stoic, even bored, but I knew him enough to see that this was difficult for him.

He seemed almost shocked when we entered a particular street, and then smiled, his eyes going distant again. He pointed to a blocky, ugly building and said, "I used to live there."

I whipped round in my seat to watch it as it went past. "Really?" I asked. Maybe I could find some way to go there during my visit.

"In the penthouse."

We stopped at a traffic light, and I saw dad turn back to the building. He watched it silently for a short while. By the way he was looking at it; I could tell he was remembering something.

"What are you thinking?" I asked softly.

"Hmm?" he said, turning back to me. "Oh. Just the trees."

I felt my eyes widening, sure he'd finally lost it.

He laughed at my expression. "The first time I kissed your mother, it was there," he motioned.

"In the trees?" I asked incredulously.

"Under them," he answered. The traffic light turned back to green.

We went through a couple more streets, then he parked in a small driveway lined with flowers and a small grass area. The only other vehicle was a shiny silver Audi, although there was a garage. The house was very normal looking, slightly smaller than the average American house.

"Ready?" Dad asked.

I took a deep breath, suddenly worried by the way he said it.

"As I'll ever be," I answered.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Night World.**

**Chapter 3**

It wasn't long before we were all in Bracken's house, in my mother's old home.

He'd opened the door within several seconds of us ringing the doorbell. He greeted dad warmly, but was a bit more reserved with me, for which I was grateful. He was practically a stranger to me, anyway.

He did smile at me, though. It was the type of smile which made people trust him, because his eyes smiled too.

His eyes were what surprised me the most. I hadn't seen him in so long, that I'd forgotten their colour, but they were exactly the same blue as mine. Same as my mother's.

He politely asked us how the drive was, then helped us carry my things upstairs. They took the two large suitcases, leaving me with my rucksack and guitar case.

He guided us into a room, saying over his shoulder, "Gave me a reason to finally sort out Jez's old room," he said.

I would have known that it was Mum's old room even without the remark. Right next to the bed, there was 'Jez Redfern rocks' etched into the wall. That made me smile.

"I haven't done anything to it since she left the first time," I heard Bracken say carefully.

That sparked my interest, but I held my tongue, knowing that the adults wouldn't answer. I walked up to a circular pin-up board, which still had a load of pieces of paper pinned up on it. I saw dad in the full-length mirror next to it gently put down my suitcase on the bed, though I could tell he was trying not to look at anything too closely.

Bracken seemed to notice this too and said to me, "We'll leave you to get unpacked, Adenah. Come back downstairs when you're ready."

I nodded and he left. Dad followed him quickly. I placed my rucksack on a desk which was against the window, and propped up my guitar in the corner before going back to the pin-up board.

There were various notes, including a couple of birthday and Christmas lists, which obviously she had liked keeping. A couple of pictures of different gorgeous leather jackets and military boots, under a piece of paper which had 'Gang outfits' in capitol letters with about a million question marks.

One note which I laughed out loud at said 'Kill Morgead ASAP'. When I lifted it up there was a picture of a very smashed-up-looking motorbike. Under that picture, though, was one of mum and dad next to the same (I guessed it was the same) motorbike. Next to it was one of them when they were younger than me with Bracken. A few more pictures cut from magazines either featured motorbikes or leather jackets worth about $400 each.

I went back to the desk to open my rucksack, and noticed that there was a North Beach jacket on the back of the chair. I lifted it up carefully, knowing that they were worth an absolute bomb. I rubbed my fingers against the soft leather, then caught sight of the mirror again.

I couldn't help myself. I shot a glance at the door, as if someone – the _real_ owner of the jacket would come in and rip it from my hands – before sliding it on.

It was very slightly too big for me, but very comfortable and soft inside. The dark leather was exactly the same colour as my hair. When I flipped my hair back, though, I noticed a neat hole in the left shoulder. I touched it gently, noticing that there was another hole directly behind it. It looked like a bullet hole.

I slipped it off again and placed it carefully on the chair before opening my rucksack and taking out the photo album, which I'd put in just before we left. I glanced at the door again before kneeling down next to the bed and sliding it under.

It slid over the smooth floorboard before something resisted. Curious, I put my other hand under and dragged out another photo album. 'Jez Redfern' was written at the top in bright red, with 'Do not touch' underneath it.

May as well disobey my mother. It wasn't as if it could happen very often.

I leant my back against the wall next to the bed and flipped open to the first page, which was blank except for 'Seriously, Morgead. Don't look', written in silver on the black paper. I turned the page again, to see that there were four photos across the pages. I quickly flipped to the back page. Even that had photos on it.

I was itching to look through them, but restrained myself, knowing that Bracken and dad were waiting for me downstairs. I could look at them tonight.

I put it back underneath the bed, on top of my own, before opening the two suitcases and haphazardly putting my clothes into the empty drawers.

The wardrobe, however, had some clothes in them, just some coats and yet another leather jacket. I felt myself smile as I looked down at the floor and saw several pairs of shoes, including some All-Star converses, black military boots and dolly shoes. Her size was just slightly bigger than mine.

I put the suitcases on the floor and went out and down the stairs. Voices were coming from behind the door nearest to the front door. I opened it and the voices abruptly stopped.

I just about managed to contain my sigh, though I could tell my expression was murderous as I shot a glance at dad. He just smiled amusedly.

"You certainly look a lot like your mother," Bracken said, staring at me with wide eyes.

I made a point of not looking at dad.

After a slightly awkward pause, dad said. "I should get going. It's a long drive ahead."

Bracken just nodded, still staring at me. I followed dad out to the car to say goodbye.

"He's a bit strange sometimes, but no-one has a better heart than him," dad said, so softly I could hardly hear him. He hugged me hard and kissed my forehead before getting into the car. "Remember you can call me any time you want to."

I nodded, suddenly terrified of being alone with Bracken. "Are you sure this was a good idea?" I whispered back, just as softly.

He looked at me seriously and brushed my hair back. "Yes. I love you, Adenah," he said.

"Love you too," I answered.

He drove away.

I took a deep breath before turning back to the house. Bracken came out.

"We can start tomorrow. Just go to your room and get settled," he said kindly.

I was relieved by this. I didn't really feel like sitting downstairs and trying to make conversation with my dead mother's uncle. I nodded at him and went upstairs, getting ready for bed and letting myself collapse on the bed with my eyes closed.

When I opened them, the first thing I saw was the etching on the wall, which made me smile again. I checked the time, which was eleven in the evening. There was no sound in the house.

I stayed completely still for a couple of minutes, my ears straining to hear anything. Even the road was silent. That was strange for me. Even in the dead of night, we could just about hear the bustle of the Strip from our house.

I turned on the bedside lamp and leant down to pick up mum's old photo album.

The first was one of a woman that looked similar to her, had the same colour hair, and a man with the same eyes as mine. I guessed they were my grandparents. After that it was one of Bracken with her at about four years old. But the next one was what caught my attention.

It was my mum, with her wide blue eyes and thick red hair with a little boy that looked slightly older than her with bright green eyes and black hair. Mum and dad. Soon after they'd met, I guessed.

I couldn't stop looking at it. The bond between them was obvious. They were holding hands and smiling as if it was the happiest they'd ever been. I could see, just by looking at the photo that they were Soulmates. Even at that age.

I reluctantly turned the page.

They both got older, as did the space between them got bigger. Mum got more and more beautiful, but also more dangerous, by the expression in her eyes. The last photograph was a group photograph.

Mum, dad, Raven and Val were the only ones I could pick out. There were two others, one a tiny little girl that looked about ten with feathery blonde hair, and the other a tall boy about mum's age with cold grey eyes that stared expressionlessly out of the photo.

I found that I hated that photo.

The eyes of the boy I didn't know scared me. Mum and dad were separated by a big space, at either end of the group, and even though it was only a picture, I could see the tension in their shoulders. They weren't comfortable with something, whether it was their group of friends or each other.

I had to remind myself that they ended up marrying each other and having a kid.

And then she died.

Tears pricked behind my eyes and I slammed it shut, not wanting to see her any more.

I hated her.

I _hated_ her.

I knew deep down that it wasn't fair, that she wouldn't have left if she hadn't had to, but at that moment I couldn't think about that. I hated her for the fact that she pushed dad away when they were teenagers, when he so obviously loved her. I hated that because of her dad was suffering, every day.

I hated that she died and left us to fend for ourselves.

I furiously threw the book under the bed, hearing it hit the wall to my right with a _thump_ before turning off the light and squeezing my eyes shut. Maybe if I kept my eyes closed and didn't move from this place the time would turn back to before they even met, and I could prevent any of it from happening. Dad would never have met her; she would never have met him. Then he could have found someone else who didn't tear his heart out by going off and _dying _on him.

Maybe then he could be completely happy, instead of only half happy with a daughter that reminded him of his Soulmate.

I had a terrible dream where I could see dad and mum at different stages of their lives. She was running away from him as fast as she could, even though I tried to scream at her to stop. Dad was furiously running after her, though every time he came close, she slipped through his fingers like smoke. When he finally could reach her she had a stake impaled in her chest.

My eyes snapped open.

I was gasping, as if it'd been me running. The room was bright and already quite warm with the sun. I sat up slowly, trying to stop my hands from shaking.

It was about nine in the morning, and I could see Bracken outside doing goodness-knows-what, so I decided to at least do something that helped me clear my head. I got my guitar and strummed at it, closing my eyes. It was the easiest way to not think about the sudden hatred I felt for my mother, to forget the intense guilt also.

I had no idea how much time passed when I was playing, but at some point there was a knock at the door.

I jumped and looked to see Bracken. He was watching me with a sad expression.

"Ready to get started?"

The way he said it scared me.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Night World.**

**Chapter 4**

Morgead felt the loneliness pressing down as soon as he drove away from his daughter. She was the only one that stopped him from going completely crazy with grief.

And exhaustion. Since _she'd_ died, he was always inexplicably tired. Sometimes it took a lot for him to be able to muster up the courage and the strength to get up in the morning.

The hardest was watching Adenah forget her. He wanted, more than anything, for Adenah to always remember. But her questions about where her mother had gone dwindled away by the time she was four. After that she never asked again.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel so much that his knuckles turned white.

He spent the entire drive semi-conscious, which happened a lot now. He'd be awake, but floating somewhere above his body. It was the easiest way to deal with having to be alone for the next couple of weeks.

The house came up abruptly and without consciously thinking it he had turned off the car and got in the front door. Adenah's cat was curled up on the floor. Even though the early morning sun was streaming through the windows, it felt grey. It felt as if the atmosphere was crushing down on him, crushing out his soul.

If he even had one anymore.

He closed his eyes for a second, then realised when he could hardly get them open that he was tired to the point that he was certain he would collapse soon. That was understandable. He hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours.

It took a while to remember how to move.

One foot in front of the other. He performed the action automatically. He'd told himself that every single day for a long time. One foot in front of the other. Take each day one by one. Cross bridges when you come to them.

Adenah's first day at school had been a difficult bridge. It had been the first time he'd been in an empty house in a long time. He'd come home, sat down and stared at the clock until he could go pick her up. He still did that, every time she went out. It was better than having to consciously think about the silence that threatened to force him to the ground and never move again and–

Focus.

_One foot in front of the other._

He somehow managed to stumble his way up the steps without falling and lie on his bed, fully clothed. When he finally was able to force himself to close his eyes he did his best to ignore the shimmering red hair and bright blue eyes that were always... _there_. No matter what he did.

It didn't take much for him to open his eyes again and sit up. At least if he could see the world around him there was no way he could see... the other thing.

He moved to the window.

Ever since he'd first moved here, he'd hated it. The desert was too plain. There was no greenery. The Strip was bustling, and he'd always thought that it was cheap and tacky. And there were the ghosts. Sometimes, he wondered that if he moved somewhere far away, like Washington DC or Florida, he would be able to start to move on. But every time he thought about moving something inside him protested.

So he listened. And he stayed. At least for now.

It was the only thing he could do.

Somehow, the afternoon came, and Morgead only realised when he looked to the clock that he was trembling with exhaustion. Every time he blinked it took a gargantuan effort to force his eyes open.

He heard a strange sound down by his feet and looked down to see that Lustucru was stroking his body along his legs. The cat always did that. He looked up with his luminous eyes and miaowed again, waving his twisted tail slowly. Morgead bent down to pick him up, though he almost keeled over with the effort.

He sighed and walked unsteadily back to the bed and fell onto it ungracefully. Lustucru twisted and ran out of the room. Breathing a bit quicker than usual, his eyes closed before he could stop them and was somehow asleep.

It wasn't restful, though. _She_ was there, the way she always was. Out of reach, the way she always was. Running away from him, the way she always was. He was sick of it.

The dream morphed enough for him to realise something different. He caught up to her. He was holding her. But... she was crying.

_Jez...?_

She didn't look up. Had he done something wrong?

_Jez? What is it?_

She heard him. He heard her take a deep breath.

_I'm scared, Morgead._

The surroundings fell into place enough for Morgead to be filled with panic. _No. Not this._

A room. Not his, but he had stayed in it once upon a time. A million eons ago, he'd stayed here. It had been the last place he'd held her. There was a bed, a door, plain wooden walls. And it was completely grey. Apart from her, everything in his dream was grey.

_Don't go._

The window looked out on desert. The desert he hated more than anything.

_Momma?_

Oh. There was one other thing to the dream that wasn't grey. Adenah. She was as bright and vibrant as Jez. He hadn't realised Jez was holding her.

_I have to._

No. She _didn't_. Not here. Not now.

She shook her head and pulled away. She was getting further and further away from him, though it didn't look like she was consciously moving. He distantly heard two words that tore his heart out.

...

_It's time_.

...

Then, suddenly, she was gone. The walls around him crumbled to dust and a quick progression of images flashed in front of him that he could half see, half sense. They were simple, but each one crushed him.

Jez when he'd first seen her. Every single day when he'd leave the house and his uncaring mother for her to be waiting outside, a wicked smile on her face. Her growing up, always by his side, and getting more and more beautiful, more and more dangerous. A brief dark moment, when she was gone, and the world bursting into flames with the pure passion of his love for her when she returned.

And her loving him in the same way.

The final picture was her leaving, before that disintegrated. That was final. He felt it as being final. The last time he would ever see her.

_No._

With that word, he was floating nearer and nearer to where he knew the final battle had taken place. He saw shadows of people fighting a shape... which was no more than that. Just a black shape. He dimly recognised the people, Delos, Iliana and Kierlan. Jez was nowhere to be found.

But there she was. Suddenly, everything changed. The shape and the shadows leeched out, blending into the surroundings. There was one single person, standing in a massive crater.

She had red hair.

_No._

He couldn't watch her die. He forced himself to blink, to try and wake up, though he didn't have a body.

It didn't work. When he could see everything again, nothing had changed. Jez was still there, standing in front of a large, unnatural stone. He saw her twist the knife through her fingers and look back over her shoulder as the rainclouds that had started coming spat out some moisture. It quickly turned into a deluge. Jez touched the lodestone, her hands trembling.

"_Jezebel."_

It wasn't him. She whipped round, the knife and lodestone forgotten. Her expression was one of absolute confusion, then fear.

"You're meant to be dead."

Her voice rang out clear and unwavering.

"Of course not, Jezebel. I managed to evade the Power." The man came closer to her. Morgead felt his hands – if he had them – clench. "You are the one who will die, but your blood will not spill over the lodestone. You have five minutes to beat me and then gather up enough courage to strike yourself. In five minutes, all the cruellest monsters will invade the world."

She moved one foot back carefully. Morgead knew what it meant. She was going to fight. She cut her hand, ready to use the Wild Power.

It didn't come.

The man laughed, and Morgead was so afraid and filled with such rage, he couldn't focus on the words, but it didn't take long before Jez launched herself at him with her wooden knife. Morgead almost relaxed, positive she could take him.

He was wrong.

He somehow managed to get past her defences and slice her across her stomach. Morgead couldn't tear his gaze away, and he knew the wound was fatal. She knew this too, and struggled back.

She reached the lodestone.

There was a massive _crack_ that resounded through the air, which shook everything he could see. The man who had attacked Jez hit some sort of invisible barrier, but Morgead couldn't watch him for long. His gaze went back to Jez.

_Jez..._ he thought desperately.

_I'm okay, _she thought back.

It didn't strike him as odd at the time that he could hear her mental voice, and that he'd somehow communicated with her. All Morgead could think was that he was watching his best friend, his wife, his _Soulmate_ die before him.

The last thing Morgead saw was the man getting past the barrier, long after she went still, pick up the body, and vanish.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Night World.**

**Chapter 5**

"_Morgead!"_

He woke up, gasping.

A dream. That was all it was. Although he felt like he'd experienced something similar before, years ago, it could only be a dream. Any other explanation was impossible.

He stayed completely still, trying to control his heart to beat slower. It took longer than it should have. When he finally had himself under control, he sat up.

It was night, and the moon was full. Long shadows were cast in the room, which reached out to grab Morgead. He tried to ignore how menacing the night had suddenly become. He was a vampire; he shouldn't be scared of the dark.

He figured the best way to get over the fear was to face it head-on.

He went outside into the midnight desert. It was much cooler than in the day, and a couple of animals were out. He hunted them without consciously thinking about it, letting his instincts take over. Alternating between running and walking, he went further into the darkness. At one point he sprinted for what could only have been a millennium. He didn't stop until the sun started peeking over the horizon.

He knew that he should go back. He'd promised Adenah that she could call him at any time. She would be worried if he didn't pick up. He looked back, realising for the first time that he couldn't even see Las Vegas anymore. There was nothing but the desert and a few wild horses around. They mostly ignored him, scratching in the ground for some grass.

Sitting down on the quickly heating up sand, he tried to convince himself to go back. At least if he went back he could call Raven and Val. At least he wouldn't be alone, like the stupid, self-pitying creature he knew he was. He sighed and moved to lean against a giant rock.

At least this place was better than Las Vegas. It was strangely beautiful out here, with the bunches of creosote and the cacti, the shaggy wild horses grazing in the hills. The day was warming up quickly as the sun came higher. He was in the shade under the rock, though.

It was only when he stood up an hour later that he realised where he was.

The place struck fear deep in his heart. He shrank back against the rock, hating himself for his sudden weakness. He swore under his breath, turning away from the wooden cottage which was no more than two hundred metres away. Had his dream subconsciously guided him towards this place that he couldn't forget, no matter how much he wished to? Or was it something else?

He walked towards it a few strides and stopped, uncertain to whether he should go in. There was some masochistic part of himself that almost _wanted_ to. And that part was getting harder to ignore.

So he went closer. And closer. He started dragging his feet, but there was something that compelled him to go on. Maybe it was the voice that screamed his name, which had woken him up...

He shook his head and forced himself to stop. He had no idea what was wrong with him. Did he really want to torture himself by coming here? Would that really help anything? He knew it wouldn't. Was there really something else forcing him to walk forwards into the dawn and origin of his nightmares? The place that haunted his every waking hour? His feet moved back a bit, his mind waging a war.

It was that moment that something collided with the back of his head. He didn't even feel himself slam onto the ground.

...***...***...

"Pick up, dammit," I muttered into the phone.

Three days had passed since dad had left me with Bracken, and he hadn't answered the phone once. I tried to ignore the worry which writhed in my stomach. There couldn't be anything wrong. He was a full vampire! And, as Bracken had said, a talented fighter. As talented as mum.

"He's still not picking up?"

I bit my lip as I looked up at Bracken. "No. I've called twice in an hour."

"Maybe he's out?"

"He would have his mobile on him, though. Right?"

His own eyes seemed as worried as me.

"I'm going to call Rose," I said. "I'll ask her to check."

I dialled as quickly as possible. She picked up within a couple of rings.

"Hello!"

I smiled at her chirpy voice. "Hey Rose."

"Adenah! How are you? How's San Francisco? Are you missing Las Vegas?"

"Umm... Not good. Pretty nice. Of course!"

"What's wrong?"

I twisted a finger in my hair and took a deep breath. "It's dad. He hasn't picked up his phone at all, and I've been getting kinda worried."

"Do you want me to check on him?"

"Would that be okay?"

"Of course. What are best friends for?"

She hung up as I was smiling at that comment, already relaxing. I mean, come on. Nothing bad could have happened, right?

I shot a glance at Bracken, who was staring blankly out the window. In the time that I'd been here, I still didn't completely understand my mother's uncle. He was very closed about certain subjects, and outwardly always calm. I understood, though, that when he was twisting his hands together, the way he was right now, he was nervous.

I looked away and frowned at the phone. He wasn't _nervous_. What had he to nervous about? Dad could be home, just hadn't checked the phone and had been out or sleeping. He sometimes kept weird times and would sleep in the middle of the day. He tended to keep on going until he was too tired to carry on.

Bracken had got round to telling me a lot about my mother. I had known already that her and dad had been friends for ages before they found out they were Soulmates, and were in a gang of illegally hunting Night World vampires, but Bracken had told me about the fact that she'd been a Wild Power. I'd heard of them and even met one, Delos, but had had no idea that mum was one. And then he'd told me the biggest thing. That she had to be the sacrifice to save the human world.

I still felt the echoings of shock reverberating through my body at that fact. I'd had to go upstairs and lock myself in my room for a couple of hours. Bracken had let me go wordlessly.

All it did, really, was make me feel guilty and ashamed that I still felt the hate I held for her. Even now, when I knew what she'd done for me, for _everyone_, I still hated her for leaving us.

The phone buzzed, making me jump. I snatched it up quickly. "Hello?"

"He's not there, Adenah. But he's probably just out for a few hours," she said, though her voice sounded uncertain.

"What?"

"It's just... it doesn't seem like he's been there in a while, Adenah. His motorbike and car are still there."

My heart stopped beating for a second. I twisted a finger in a strand of my hair.

"I'll get dad to have a look, okay? He can get all of Circle Daybreak looking."

"Okay. Thanks, Rose."

I hung up and pushed my hands onto the table to ground myself.

"Adenah?" Bracken came up next to me.

"He's not at home, and Rose said that it seems like he hasn't been there in a while, but his car and motorbike are still there. He wouldn't go out walking for that long." I sat on the sofa and brought my knees up. "Where is he?" I said to no-one in particular.

I listed the possibilities in my mind. He could just be at home but hadn't moved for the past three days, at least not enough to make it seem like he was there. He could be out hunting. Round Raven and Val's. Or he could be hurt.

No. It couldn't be _that_. No-one in their right mind would attack dad. It had to be that he was hunting or round Raven and Val's.

"I'm going to call Raven and Val."

Bracken nodded wordlessly and passed me the phone, still twisting his hands together.

***...***...***

He wasn't at Raven and Val's. I'd called Rose three more times, and each time she'd gone to mine to check, and had seen no sign of him. Not even when she went in. She'd told her parents, and they had sent out search parties, which had come back with nothing.

And I was stuck in San Francisco, unable to do anything. Every time I told Bracken that I wanted to leave to go back home and look for him, he wouldn't let me. Something about being too young.

Which drove me crazy. But what else could I do?

I took to leaving the house whenever I could, to go sit in the park down the road or just walking aimlessly round the town. At one point I found myself in the street where dad used to live.

I ran back at that point. I didn't want any reminders.

It wasn't that Bracken wasn't sympathetic. He really was. He wouldn't bombard me with information, left me to my own devices most of the time and never forced his company on me. He was going on as normal, which in turn made me feel normal through the panic.

***...***...***

She was cold.

The first thing she did at that foreign, sudden thought was look down at her arms. The hairs were standing on end, and through the scars that ranged from pale cream to startling white, she could see small lumps. _Goosebumps_. That thought was also foreign. She remembered it as if it were the memory of a dream.

Focussing intensely, she tried to remember how to lower her arm. It finally happened. How long had passed since she'd lifted it? A second? A lifetime?

She had no idea what time was anymore.

She closed her eyes, and the same face as always flashed behind her closed eyelids. Of course, she had no idea who it was. She had no memory of her life, the face, or the one name, or word, that she clung onto, though she had no idea why.

Was it her name? She tried it out loud, but very quietly. No. It wasn't her name, though it seemed just as important. But why would any other name be just as important?

She whispered it a couple more times. It was a strange name, one she didn't...

There was a loud clatter from the direction of what she guessed was the gate. She jumped at the sound cutting through the previous quiet. It was the same person as usual, a small man with cropped brown hair and wide grey eyes. He didn't look at her, but just placed the tray with the small pile of food and a bottle of water on the floor. He backed out quickly, never speaking. As soon as he left she whispered the name under her breath again.

"_Adenah."_


	6. Chapter 6

**I was re-reading Huntress II, and I saw that I had made a major mistake. Thierry and Hannah's adoptive daughter is called Iris, not Rose... Gahh! Just pretend that it's Rose. ^_^ Also, people. PLEASE REVIEW! Three reviews for five chapters is kinda... embarrassing. And discouraging. It's much easier to write if I think people are actually reading this stuff. Otherwise I'll just stop.**

**I don't own Night World.**

**Chapter 6**

Morgead was awoken with a sharp kick. He was immediately aware and did the natural thing, which was try to lash out at his attacker.

But he couldn't.

He panicked, trying to move his body, but couldn't. When he focussed he saw that he was tied up. He looked around, trying to gauge his surroundings.

Plain, grey stone walls. A packed mud floor with small piles of straw. It was mostly plain apart from a simple wooden chair in the middle. There were no windows or doors that he could see, but somehow there was just enough light to see clearly by.

And there was someone standing next to him.

He seemed particularly tall – but that might have just been because Morgead was on the floor – and probably a werewolf, by the look of him.

Morgead was still as the werewolf roughly dragged him to his feet and over to the chair. He looked around, trying to find some possible escape route. He came up with nothing.

So instead he focussed on the werewolf who was checking that his hands were tied up tightly. He was big, with muscled like bowling balls. His hair was shaggy, and looked like dog fur. He ignored Morgead and suddenly left, going behind Morgead. He seemed to melt through the wall.

He automatically pulled against the binds, ignoring as they cut into his wrists.

"Morgead?"

He turned at his name to see a slighter man than before standing behind him. He had dark hair and eerie black eyes that seemed completely opaque. The raw... _evilness_ in them sent shivers up Morgead's spine. Even _he_ hadn't been as evil as that. Not even in his worse days.

There was something else as well. He felt like he knew this man from somewhere. And it was important.

"May I call you that?" His eyes were mocking. Morgead ignored him. "Of course I can." He came to stand in front of Morgead. "What could you do to me?"

"You're obviously scared of me; otherwise you wouldn't have tied me up."

The man leant forwards slightly. "Oh, I'm not scared of you. I just think it'll be easier for us to have a conversation."

Morgead took a deep breath and carefully schooled his features, hoping he looked bored.

"Now. If you co-operate no harm will befall on your daughter."

Morgead swallowed, suddenly feeling the most scared he had in his life. Even if this man killed him, he would protect Adenah. That was the most important thing.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He was pleased with how he sounded. Slightly bored and completely cold and unfeeling. Even though he felt like what was left of his heart was being tugged in different directions.

The man frowned patiently and shook his head. "No. Morgead, you have to co-operate. That is the only way I can guarantee your daughter's safety. I know she exists."

"Who are you?" Morgead snapped out.

The man looked at him, and Morgead remembered just as he said his name.

"Lohemadu."

The name meant nothing to him, but he recognised him. He was in my dream, wasn't he? Morgead thought to himself. He was the one who took Jez's...

He narrowed his eyes and steeled himself against the flash of pain.

Lohemadu sighed. "I need you to co-operate. I will harm your daughter if you do not. Do you _understand _what I'm saying to you?" His voice was no longer polite. Something about the raw violence that Morgead could glimpse in him scared him.

"Co-operate with what?"

Lohemadu smiled harshly and leant back against the wall. "An experiment."

"Because that explains so much? Is it an evil scientist experiment or what?"

"A test on how powerful a... shall we say, unique, species really is when faced with the impossible."

Morgead raised his eyebrows. "You're not making any sense," he forced out, pulling on the binds. They refused to give.

"I know. Part of the experiment," he looked behind Morgead and smiled. Morgead turned to see someone with long blonde hair and brown eyes.

A very pretty someone, he noted to himself blankly. But he noticed one thing. Just like Lohemadu, she had an evil aura to her. Something about her eyes suggested that she was capable of some dark happenings. When he caught her eye, he had visions of people bound up and being burnt, screaming in agony from being sliced with thin, sharp stakes.

One of them had bright red hair.

Morgead bit on his tongue and forced his gaze away, pushing down on the violent emotions that rose up inside him. That couldn't be real. It had to be some kind of Power that she had. He tried to control the tremors that were racking through his body.

"Don't you recognise her? I thought all you Night People would recognise her," Lohemadu said wonderingly.

"I'm not a Night Person anymore," Morgead muttered through clenched teeth, hardly able to force the words out.

"Ah, but you were. A powerful one at that. You had so much potential..." the woman said, sighing. Her gaze was wicked as she looked at Morgead. He met her eyes reluctantly, bracing himself. The images didn't come again. "My name... is Hellewise."

Morgead felt his face blanch. The one light to the witches, the hope that they had in themselves was with this woman who had supposedly died long ago from her battle with Maya. Take away her goodness, and the witches had nothing in their ancestry. Hellewise was _the_ witch, the epitome of all that was good.

And these people were obviously from the small, disjointed society which was the Night World nowadays. All of Circle Daybreak knew they existed, hiding among them. Thierry was positive that there were a few spies in his own household.

And they had Hellewise in their little organisation. This could turn out bad. _Really_ bad.

"Aren't you supposed to be good?" was all Morgead could think to say.

Hellewise and Lohemadu gave a short laugh. "Oh, I was. But my awakening wasn't carried out by my sisters. No, they obviously didn't care about me enough to even try. Instead, I was awakened by Lohemadu. And up till your little _Soulmate_ came and ruined it all, we'd almost awakened the rest of the dragons. They would have taken over the world and life would have been better. The humans had had their reign; it was time for a new age to dawn."

"And Jez managed to stop you," Morgead said softly.

Hellewise's eyes sparked bright red for a second, then calmed as she smiled. "For now."

She turned and swept out of the small room. Lohemadu followed her, leaving Morgead alone in his bonds.

So Hellewise was alive. She was the person who would have awakened the dragons to unleash terror on the world, probably worlds. And he still had absolutely no idea why he'd been brought here.

Oh, he loved a Monday.

...***...***...

It was ages before he saw anyone again. He had no idea how much time had passed. The surroundings never changed, and he was still tied to the damn chair. It became painfully uncomfortable after a short amount of time.

He mostly drifted in and out of partial consciousness. It allowed him to get some rest and also to be almost as aware as if he'd stayed awake.

Finally, though, someone came. A big man, well over six foot. Probably some kind of shapeshifter. He untied Morgead roughly and firmly held his arm behind his back in a control hold. He pushed him forward, grunting something about a surprise.

That didn't make any sense though. A surprise? What the hell did _that_ mean?

He herded Morgead down some brightly lit corridors which hurt his eyes after the dim light of the dungeon, and then down some stairs, which were again, dimly lit. He thought about fighting, but ruled it out quickly as Adenah's face flashed in his mind. They knew about her, somehow. He couldn't risk anything happening to her.

And he went down some more stairs.

And some more.

Morgead was getting particularly annoyed at this stage. Couldn't they have at least installed an _elevator?_ Unless he'd gone into some kind of time warp where people climbed up and down stairs for several hours at a time.

They finally finished the steps, which had been getting more and more uneven and precarious. Some even dropped into nothingness, and he'd had to jump over them. They came to a stop at the end of a long corridor with nothing on the walls. There was a heavily chained wooden door, which separated as soon as the shapeshifter touched them, and he was led down yet another corridor, which was thankfully much shorter.

This was getting really boring now. He wasn't even scared anymore.

Which meant he was completely unprepared for what happened next.

The final obstacle to his destination was a simple gate with a simple padlock, looking kind of pathetic after the massive chains. The 'shifter opened the gate and roughly pushed Morgead in. He stumbled, but righted himself in time to see him close the gate. He sighed and turned to gauge the new surroundings.

And was struck with both heartbreak and happiness when he saw what was before him.

**So. Remember to review. **

'**kay?**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Night World.**

**Chapter 7**

"We just need to go on as normal."

I looked up to see Bracken standing by the door with a weary expression. I didn't answer him and checked my phone for the hundredth time. Nothing. As always.

"Adenah," I looked up. "What do you want to know?"

"I know everything I want to," I muttered. "Bracken, I just want to go home and find my dad. It's been over two weeks, and I still haven't heard from him. Not to mention I'm missing way too much of school. I'll be playing catch-up for the rest of the year!"

"You can't go home. I'm not letting you live in Las Vegas on your own."

"I can go to Rose's house, maybe."

"No," his voice was firmer. "Your father put you in my care. I'm not letting you go, Adenah."

He turned and stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Tears pricked at the back of my eyes and I slid to the floor, pushing my hands against my head to try and alleviate the tension. I felt like the world was falling apart around me, that everything would just implode and disappear, never to be seen or felt again.

Where _was _he?

I had no more ideas, no more explanations. Could I just accept that? That he was... gone? Just like mum, he'd left and would never come back again. And there would just be this guilt racking through my body for the rest of my life. I should have stayed. I could have waited until he was ready to tell me himself.

That wouldn't have been too much to ask of myself, right?

Or maybe he'd decided to leave. He'd told me the story time and time again, about how his mother had run off with some vampire when he was only a year or so older than I was now. Would he do that?

No. Of course not. There was something wrong with him.

And I wasn't going to wait around any more.

I stood up and ran downstairs to the living room, where Bracken always seemed to be. Right now, he was staring out of the window.

"Then can you come with me?" I said quickly.

He turned towards me. "No. I don't have the necessary strength to protect you, Adenah. Circle Daybreak has search parties out. They'll do a lot more than we can."

I kicked at the floor in exasperation. Bracken was always so _logical_ all the time. Completely different to me and dad.

"Fine," I said, moving my hand behind my back so he couldn't see it, and crossed my fingers.

...***...***...

There was something different this time.

Instead of just the single man with the brown hair and grey eyes coming to the gate, she could hear two sets of footsteps. She strained her ears, but neither said anything before the gate was opened. She shrank back as far as she could, letting the shadows clothe her and hide her from view. In all the time which she had been here, which she sometimes she believed was her entire life, she'd only seen one person come in at a time.

The gate clattered open, making a horrific noise that made her think that some monster was trying to break into her cage, and she watched the entrance carefully. She felt her heart quicken, though she couldn't think of an explanation why. Her entire body filled with some kind of longing.

And then two figures were coming in. One she dismissed straight away, because he was nothing compared to the man next to him.

The first thing she noticed was his jet-black hair. It was slightly mussed, falling over his forehead in waves, and almost reaching his eyes, which were the brightest colour. The name of the colour came into her mind.

_Green._ But that didn't seem... enough. They looked like a supernova or a million suns in their brightness.

She moved forwards out of the shadow, slightly nearer to him, and out of the shade. He didn't see her for a second, and then their eyes met and she felt as if the ground had been whipped out from under her.

...***...***...

I walked down the stairs as quietly as I could, a heavy bag on my shoulders and a torch in my left hand. The other was clenched on the banister.

I didn't really need it. My balance was infinitely better than a full human's, but at that moment I was shaking so much that I needed something to ground me.

I was terrified. But what of? It didn't make sense; I'd been out in the pitch dark a million times before, hunting animals which were sometimes bigger than me. I was more comfortable when I could hide in the shadows, out of sight of humans.

There was a cracking of a branch, and I froze, terror taking over for a second. For a moment, I was almost certain that I'd been caught. I held my breath.

A small shape whipped past me at what seemed like the speed of light, and I almost fainted from the shock before I pulled myself together. I closed my eyes for a while, getting control of my heartbeat and slowing down my breathing. Just an animal. It wouldn't hurt me; animals seemed to know that vampires were higher up than humans, so they respected us a lot more.

I lifted my chin and moved forwards, trying to look like I belonged... and a hand clamped onto my shoulder.

I let out a short, high-pitched scream, which was cut off by a rough hand over my mouth, at which point I conserved all my energy for a swift backwards kick.

"Adenah, stop!" a familiar voice said. The hand came away from my mouth and the hand which had clamped onto my shoulder spun me round so that I was face to face with my assailant.

"Bracken!" I squeaked.

His eyes were glaring at me, pure silver, which meant he was really angry. I swallowed and tried to meet his gaze steadily, whilst still looking apologetic. He didn't say anything, just watched me with that murderous silver gaze.

"I'm not just going to wait around!" I finally shouted, unable to stop myself.

He didn't answer me, but instead kept a hand on me as he dragged me back inside. I didn't bother to protest; he was way stronger than me, and could easily pick me up.

"Go to your room," he said, with a voice like black thunder. I ran upstairs as fast as I could.

...***...***...

She _knew _him. She had no idea how, but to her it seemed like in a past life, she'd known him. Maybe even better than she'd known herself.

He didn't seem to be breathing, and had gone even paler. His eyes were wide, and so bright that it was all she could see.

She disrupted the calm, jerking away from the sudden rush of emotion that cloaked her. She'd never felt anything as intense as it, but had no idea what it meant. It seemed to break the spell on him also; he staggered forwards one step before saying in a low voice, "_Jez."_

She didn't completely understand what he meant by that, but it reminded her of something. A far-off dream of some sort.

He came closer to her, and though her mind was screaming at her to run away, she was locked in his gaze as he lifted a hand up to touch her cheek.

A spark. Electricity filled her body and she gave a swift gasp. She narrowed her eyes against the haze between them, trying to force herself to focus.

His hand didn't leave her cheek. The whole world was shaking, or at least that was what it felt like. There was another spark, which seemed to jolt her mind into perfect clarity for the first time in she didn't know how long.

She felt her eyes tear up, and his anguished expression made her want to comfort him. He was _important_ enough to comfort, for her to want him to be happy. The small pieces in her mind that had been disjointed began to fuse together again.

And in a flash, it came back to her, at a blinding, dizzying speed. It shocked her. She fell forwards, and the man, _Morgead,_ caught her effortlessly. She fit against his body perfectly, like she'd been designed for him, and him alone. He brushed her hair back behind her shoulder and leant his forehead against hers as she clutched at his shoulders. She realised then, that it hadn't been the world shaking, but her.

The memories that had flooded back into her brought back one other thing, just as important as Morgead. The only thing that could touch her at that minute. "Adenah?" she gasped.

He pulled her closer before answering, "She's with Bracken."

Bracken... her uncle, she thought disconnectedly. She couldn't remember him as well, though.

And suddenly she couldn't remember him at all, because Morgead had put one hand under her chin to pull her face up and kiss her.

She was shaking again, her hands tangled in his soft hair. He was gentle with her, but something about him was holding her together.

The gate clanged open, and they both jumped, pulling away from each other.

The man's face betrayed nothing, and the guards were completely blank faced, but Jez saw his gaze linger on Morgead's arm around her. She automatically shrank back against him, needing his strength.

"Come with me."

The man's voice betrayed no emotion as he turned away and went down the corridor. The thugs stayed there, looking at them menacingly until they followed.

Jez allowed herself one last glance at the gate as they turned a corner. Although she hated the place, she had a feeling it was better than where they were going.


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Night World.**

**Chapter 8**

"Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?"

I kept my head ducked down, letting my hair fall betwixt me and Bracken. He'd been shouting at me for the last half-an-hour. I'd kept silent the entire time.

"Look at me, Adenah," he growled. I looked up timidly.

"There are people that would be glad to hurt you. The Night World isn't really gone; they will always have supporters. And I'm betting some of them have spied on you before; they know who you are. It's not safe for you to go out on your own! You don't know how to fight, how to survive by yourself... it's suicide for you to go out by yourself."

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "I just hate this!"

"I know! But whatever happens, I need to keep you safe."

"Like whatever happens to dad," I lifted my head and met his gaze.

He was quiet for a moment, frowning as he searched my eyes. "Yes."

It was the straightest answer he'd given me yet, and I had to bite my tongue hard to not shout at him. With one more serious glance at me, he left the room.

And once again I was trapped, with no way of escaping from the depression which was sucking the life out of me.

Morgead was never going to let her go again.

She was different; he could feel that, but it was still _her_. The thorn in his side, his best friend, his worst enemy. For so long he'd been empty and lost, but now his anchor was back. And now that they were back together, _finally_, no-one would be able to keep them under lock and key. This was _Jez_. The same Jez that always found a way out, no matter the circumstances. That was why she had always been the better leader.

She looked back at the gate before it disappeared from view, and Morgead automatically pressed his cheek against her hair. It wasn't soft anymore, but it was still _her_. And part of him wished this time they had together would drag on.

Well, not all of him. It'd still be nice when they got out and were alone for a while. There was so much he needed to know. _How_ did she survive?

And he was sure that she'd want to know everything about Adenah. His heart twisted as he thought about her. He had no idea how long he'd been gone, and she must be worried. Especially with her tendency to think the worst of situations.

The walk back seemed shorter than the walk to the dungeon had been. Predictably, they were separated and tied up separately. Morgead kept his expression turned inward. No-one but Jez knew him well enough to know that he was actually terrified.

Jez wasn't doing the same, though. Her lips were slightly parted and she was breathing quickly, her eyes pure blue. She wasn't even on the defence, but had her shoulders curved inwards.

He would _kill_ them for doing that to his angel.

Lohemadu walked in with Hellewise at that point, and through the silver chord that still connected their minds together, Morgead could feel Jez's intense fear and confusion at the sight of the pair. He felt a growl rise up through his chest.

"No need for that," Hellewise said. Jez did a strange jerking motion at her voice. Morgead shot a worried glance at her and saw that she was hunched over, completely defeated.

_It's going to be alright, Jez,_ he sent to her. He gently probed to forge a connection so that she could respond.

Her eyes shot to his, and he held onto them. _I don't know whether I can any more, _she sent back. The weariness in her voice caused his heart to twist painfully.

_Who said anything about just you? We'll do it together. For Adenah._

At her daughter's name, something sparked in her eyes, and she straightened slightly. Her eyes went slightly more silvery.

A sarcastic voice broke through. "Would you like some privacy?" Lohemadu said.

Jez flinched a bit at that, but took a deep breath and hardened her eyes. She turned back to the duo, but didn't answer.

"Good," he finally said after a couple of seconds of flicking his glance from Morgead to Jez, and back to Morgead again.

"Why did you take us?" Morgead asked.

Hellewise shot him a sardonic glance as Lohemadu answered with, "to punish you," as he paced back and forth.

Morgead saw Hellewise shoot an annoyed look at Lohemadu. He kept quiet, hoping that they might just have a bust-up right there and then and make all their lives easier.

"But punish us for what?" Jez asked. She flinched back when Lohemadu fixed her with an icy glare.

"You, for being the Wild Power. Wild Powers are what made us go underground."

"But we didn't disappear," Hellewise interjected. "The Night World will always live on, and the humans are walking through a time-bomb. Their time to rule the world should have passed. The world should now be under new rule."

"But it wouldn't have been the Night World," Morgead said.

Lohemadu's black eyes fixed on him. "Anything is better than _humans_ having control." He cleared his throat and started pacing again. "And now... we must do what we brought you here for."

"How did I survive?" Jez suddenly asked.

"Hellewise was brought back to life. You were brought back to life. Nothing spectacular." He shifted and glanced towards Hellewise. "We have to make examples of you." His smile was almost pleasant as he turned back to them.

"What?" Morgead asked.

"We would have done it anyway. But you saw what we did to your little Soulmate; a trembling wreck. She'll never be the same again." Jez flinched again, and Morgead clenched his teeth.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded in a low voice. A growl rose in the back of his throat.

"We'll do the same to you. Before you are both killed. We'll start with..." he considered. "Morgead."

He didn't struggle as a couple of guard werewolves dragged him forward. Morgead heard Jez's sharp intake of breath, and he thanked God that it would be him going first. Maybe Jez could somehow get away.

"No!" she called out. "Please. Not him."

"Let's see how much more she breaks down once I'm done with you, shall we?" Lohemadu shot a look at Hellewise, who nodded, her eyes bright and feverish.

And when he looked back at Morgead, the pain engulfed him. There was no physical damage, as far as he could tell, but it felt as if his skull was being cracked open, and boiling acid was submerging him, until all he could feel was the stinging, burning fire.

But still he fought it. He fixed Jez and Adenah in his mind's eye. Jez, how she looked the first time he saw her. Standing in front of him, readying for a fight. How dangerously beautiful she was whenever they hunted. The way she looked when she came back after the dark year. Their first night together. The wedding. And then Adenah. When the sonographer showed them the child growing in Jez's body, _their _child, the first time he held her.

And it worked. The pain abated, just slightly, but enough. He could think clearer again as he stared Lohemadu down defiantly.

And suddenly, the walls started shaking. The duo looked at each other, with shock and fear evident on their faces. They hadn't planned this. Lohemadu turned away and looked at the wall, and the pain vanished, as if a wind was blowing it away. He stole a glance at Jez, who was watching the wall with her eyes wide, trembling slightly.

She gave a sharp intake of breath as a stone fell from the wall. More followed, caving in, until a hole large enough for three people to squeeze through was formed.

And the first person to come through was Thierry.

Morgead felt himself relax. Circle Daybreak had found them. He and Jez would go home, and the world wouldn't be black and grey due to her loss.

Thierry didn't even react when saw Jez and Morgead tied up, which Morgead had to give him credit for. Lohemadu hissed as Hellewise shrieked, and before the rest of the warriors could come through the hole, they disappeared in a flash of fire.

Morgead wished that meant that they were dead, but it was highly unlikely.

"Jez!"

Rashel's shout brought Morgead back to the situation. Rather a difficult situation, really. She shot to Jez's side and untied her. "You're... Jez, how are you...?" she trailed off.

Jez glanced to Morgead and rubbed her wrists. "I don't know," she said in response to what was obviously the question.

One of the guards untied Morgead, but he didn't move for a bit, just watching Jez until she looked back at him. Rashel squeezed her shoulder before going away, back to where Quinn was standing.

It was a few seconds before Jez moved to kneel in front of Morgead. "Are we alright?" she said softly.

Morgead touched her cheek. "Jez," was all he said before holding her again. This was it. He never had to lose her, he had her _back_. She shifted in his arms to instead kiss him, a sweet gentle kiss.

"I thought... you know, I'm _different_ now. I would understand if you–"

He cut her off by kissing her again. "I'm never letting you go again," he whispered against her lips. "Shall we go home?"

She smiled, one of the old, flashing smiles she would give when something truly made her happy. "Thought you'd never suggest it."

...nw...nw...nw...

I couldn't believe it.

I was hoovering the front room for Bracken (you would have thought I'd be treated as a guest, but apparently not!) and automatically keeping a look-out on the driveway, and his car pulled up, with a suddenness that had me gasping.

I fumbled with the switch on the hoover and ended up yanking out the plug and screeched Bracken's name. He was down from upstairs like lightening. "What? What's wrong?"

I ignored his question and instead spun on the spot to get out through the front door as quickly as possible. And he was getting out of the car, his gaze turned eagerly towards the house. He caught my gaze just as Bracken followed me out.

And at that precise same moment, someone else stepped out of the car.

I recognised her immediately, though my brain was fighting against it. _Impossible!_ -it cried indignantly. My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. But... she looked almost exactly like woman in the wedding pictures, save from being slightly thinner. And when she met my gaze and just stared at me for a second, I could easily see that her eyes were exactly the same as mine.

"Jez!" I heard from next to me, and I frowned as Bracken almost ran up the path to envelop her in a hug. I took an uncertain step forwards, then paused.

Dad noticed that, and he approached me, reaching out a hand to touch my cheek. "You'd better have a good excuse for being so late," I mumbled before hugging him fiercely.

"I do," he said, and the difference in his tone of voice surprised me so much, I pulled back to look at him.

"Is that really..." I trailed off, glancing at the woman.

"Your mother? Yes, it is."

I wasn't completely sure what to think about that.

...nw...nw...nw...

Morgead couldn't completely decipher Adenah's expression as he pulled up in the driveway, home at last.

He'd been looking in the rear-view mirror quite often, to see that she was either closing her eyes, though he could tell she wasn't asleep by the tense way she held her shoulders, or watching Jez with that strange expression, half-way between disbelief and uncertainty. She hadn't said anything the entire drive back, and Jez had fallen asleep almost as soon as they got back into the car. He figured it would take her a while to fully recover.

He touched her shoulder and she jerked awake almost violently. The car door behind her slammed, and Adenah made her way to the porch, picking up Lustucru on the way. She sat on one of the chairs with a rather disinterested expression.

Morgead frowned at her, trying to work out what she was thinking before turning back to Jez, who was also watching Adenah, with a sad expression.

"She just needs some time to get used to it," he said softly.

She leaned into his hand before opening the door and stepping out, her posture becoming more relaxed by the second. "Finally home," she murmured.

_Finally home_, Morgead repeated in his mind. That was right. They were _home_. He'd always thought that it was just that Las Vegas wasn't home for him, but of course he should have known better. Home was where Jez was.

And she was finally _here_.


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Night World. Sorry if my style seems to have changed. I just finished writing a book which has completely different types of characters (if you're interested, search 'Deesney' on deviantArt and search for her drawing called 'Keane and Kiyoko'. She's amazing and drew them for me) and I'm kind of stuck in that style now. Buuut, anyway. I think I've gotten better since the last time I uploaded Huntress III.**

**Chapter 9**

I was fuming. Just a little bit.

Okay, I _knew_ it was selfish of me, but I kind of resented... _mum_. Bracken had been so distracted that, whoopdeedoo, his niece was _not_ dead, that the goodbye he gave me was kind of, I don't know, disjointed. Dad had been right next to me, but seemed entirely focussed on mum. It seemed as though I was suddenly second to him, and after a lifetime of being the _only_ one he cares about, it was kind of difficult to get used to in such a short space of time.

I'd unpacked (by myself, which was half the reason I was fuming), and when I sat on my bed it all came crashing onto me. This was it. It would never be the same ever again, my life was forever altered.

I leaned over the side of the bed to look underneath it and pulled out the two photo albums (yeah, I stole the other one. Whatever) and started flicking through them. Every time I saw mum's face, the memory of just how _broken_ dad had been before sent a stab of resentment through me, till it was more like anger.

Once I'd finished with them and threw them back underneath, dad popped his head in. "Do you need help unpacking?" he asked.

I shook my head and brought my knees up to rest my chin on them. He seemed to be having an internal argument – his eyes were blank – but finally he came to sit next to me. "I know it will take some getting used to, but trust me, we'll finally be a proper family. And you'll just be able to be child instead of worrying about me all the time." He paused as I turned to look at him. "You've got to try."

I nodded slowly. I would. For him.

...nw...nw...nw...

And it would have been easier, had she been anything like Bracken had described her to be.

He'd told me that she was brave and spontaneous and had a passion for arguments, but instead she jumped at every loud sound and shot a glance to dad, gave in strangely easily (which, I must admit, I did take advantage of a few times) and had a strange... _softness_ about her.

_It's because she was locked in a dungeon for nine years_, one part of me always argued. But the other half of me, the stubborn, fiery part always argued vehemently back. And it won quite often.

So I avoided her as much as I possibly could without raising suspicion. Dad seemed trapped in his own happy bubble and didn't seem to notice the glares I threw at her, and mum always seemed to be staring out of a window or down at the floor. The only time she lit up was when dad came into the room. And due to that, I tried not to be alone with her more than about five minutes.

Oh, but there was one other time she lit up.

About three days after she came back, Raven came over excitedly. I was sitting on the porch at the time, grumbling at a purring Lustucru as she made her way up the stairs. "Adenah! I came as soon as I heard you were back. Why didn't you or your dad tell us you were back?"

"He's been rather distracted recently," I said, in the same tone that I'd been talking to Lustucru with.

"What do–?"

She stopped talking as the door opened, and it was quite obvious by the silence and then the sudden shout who it was. I slipped inside, but not before I'd seen the blindingly happy look on mum's face. Lustucru struggled once I was in the sitting room, and I had to let him go, suddenly feeling very abandoned.

I skipped dinner that night, not feeling able to face up to sitting with Raven and Val so happy when I felt so depressed. Of course, missing dinner put me in an even worse mood, but anything was better than having to deal with the laughter that was downstairs.

Raven came up after a couple of hours with a tray in her hands. "You feeling better?" she asked as she came in.

Oh, that's right. I pretended I was ill to skip out on the 'happy occasion'. "A little," I muttered, but I accepted the food pretty darn quickly.

"It's pretty great, huh?"

I swallowed the mouthful quickly. "What?"

Raven frowned at me. "That your mother is back."

I couldn't help the slight sour edge to my voice when I answered. "Oh, yeah. That."

Raven was still frowning at me. "It _is_, isn't it? Your dad's so much happier now."

"Is he?" I said distantly, stabbing at some carrots.

"Adenah..." the tone of her voice made me look up. "You are _happy_ that your mother is back, right?"

"Well, I should be, so I am," I said, trying to not _outwardly_ lie.

Raven was shocked, I could see that quite plainly. "Adenah, she's your mother. And... you can't remember what your dad was like before we thought she'd died. He was completely broken without her."

"He was happy enough!" I said angrily.

"No he _wasn't_, Adenah."

"I just... she's just not the same that everyone always said she was. I _was_ proud to be her daughter, but now I'm not so sure."

Raven sighed and squeezed my shoulder. "She just needs some time to get used to it all again. She's been through a lot, Adenah. Of course she's changed."

And when she left, I felt guilty as well as depressed.

...nw...nw...nw...

So I made an effort after that. Instead of bolting whenever we were alone together, I stayed in the room, though we never talked. What could I say to her? We didn't have any real connection.

The tension did build up quite a bit, though dad never noticed. I found myself going to see Rose quite a lot and ranting to her in an attempt to get it all off my chest, but I could still feel it pressing onto me every time I saw mum.

And I suppose she _was_ getting slightly better. She would sometimes get a teasing spark in her eye when she was talking to dad, and I heard them having an argument at one point, which made our entire situation seem much more normal. She still flinched at every loud sound, though, and would jump if someone suddenly spoke right behind her. Quite excessively, really. That drove me crazy.

Well, about the tension, I _thought_ dad hadn't noticed, but one day when mum had gone round Raven and Val's by herself he came into my room.

"Adenah…" he trailed off.

I knew quite well the steely look in his eye, so I placed the guitar back on its stand and stood in front him, trying to look meek and humble.

He frowned at me and took a deep breath before saying, "Forgive me if I'm wrong, Adenah… but…" he pushed his hair back. "I know it can't be easy, but you are _happy_ that your mother is back, aren't you?" His eyes were imploring me to… well… not be awful person I really felt I was now.

"It's just…" his breath escaped out of him in a huff at my words before he leaned back on the door. "Dad," I begged him. He closed his eyes but motioned with his head for me to continue. "I'm scared. I'm scared that things are going to change _too_ much. And you have to admit she is different than what people always told me–"

"You know why!"

"Yes! Yes I do, but at the moment she's more like my… step-mother. And it's hard to adjust."

He looked at me narrowly. "There's something else."

I tugged on a strand of hair nervously. "I… I'm just scared that… you'll forget about me."

He sighed and stepped forwards to hug me. "Adenah, as difficult as you are, I could never _forget_ about you. Nothing will change between us."

"Logically, I know that. But I'm still scared."

"I'd rather die than forget about you. And it's the same with Jez. You have no idea how much she loves you, Adenah."

…nw…nw…nw

I redoubled my efforts, but I could still feel the tension building.

And then I snapped.

Dad was out, and I was alone with mum when I asked whether I could go out that evening (some random party that Rose had gotten me invited to) and she'd told me that it would be best if I stayed home. It wouldn't have bothered me much any other time – I didn't even enjoy parties – but it was the last straw and I shouted at her. I started crying at about the point that I said that she wasn't even close to being my real mother so she should stop trying. Some other things too but I hardly remember what. I'd run to my room and at one point heard her knock on the door, but didn't answer. I didn't know where she went after that.

I spent the time glaring up at the ceiling, fighting the urge to go see her and apologise (but I still hated her, _I hate you, I hate you_, oh goddess, had I really said that?). The guilt was weighing me down; I didn't think I could ever get up again.

That was it, I'd lost everything. As if dad would pick me now if it had to come to a choice between the two of us. I wouldn't pick me.

I pressed my face into my pillow and tried to ignore the fact that it was getting damp with my tears.

...nw…nw…nw…

He could feel the tension almost as soon as he opened the door.

Adenah's cat made a small sound as he approached and padded to his dish, looking back at Morgead. No food. That was strange. Adenah had never forgotten to feed the cat before.

And then there was the _tension_ that coated and stained everything. What had happened? He put a bit of food in the bowl and replaced the water, leaving the cat to pick his way through it and went up the stairs two at a time.

Both doors were closed and he opened the one to his and Jez's room. Jez was on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and he felt that same overwhelming stab of happiness (she was alive, well and alive and with him) but then he registered her expression.

"What's wrong?" he said.

She narrowed her eyes and shifted her position to sit cross-legged instead. "Nothing," she said. But she couldn't hide everything. Not from _him_.

"Jez," he said gently, and her eyes softened slightly. Still not enough, though. He went to her and sat on the bed. She moved, almost automatically, to lean against him. From here, though, waves of pain coloured the air grey. "Jez…" he said again, but then he shook his head. She was too stubborn. So instead he reached out with his mind, that same feeling that he was… _coming home_ shot through him as their minds slotted together so easily. She gave that same little sigh of pleasure that she always did – ever since the first time – when their minds merged and pressed closer to him.

And then when he found what it was that had hurt her, the world was poisoned and he moved away quickly. She blinked in surprise and her eyes turned silver. "Don't." Of course she knew; she could read him as easily as he could read her.

"Jez, I've got to talk to her," he said. He got up, but she moved swiftly, stepping between him and the door.

"_Don't_," she repeated. "She's right, anyway."

He moved back and shook his head, the words echoing through his mind as they were echoing through Jez's – I hate you, I hate you, _I hate you_ – pushing him back and shackling him to the reminders of what his life had been without Jez. He wouldn't be able to forget it, not ever, but why did it still have to be difficult when she was back and everything should have been perfect? "How is she right?" he said slowly.

Her hand was on the doorknob. She leant against the door and her gaze dropped to the ground. "No one likes change. And I forced her into it by coming back–"

"Just… stop right there," he said, holding up a hand.

Her eyes sparked slightly. "She's just a child and her entire world has changed. Of course she didn't want me back. I'm not the same as I was before anyway."

"What?"

"Well, she's heard stories about me from Claire and Raven and Bracken. And I'm _not_ the same. However much I try to be."

He pushed his hands through his hair before stepping towards her and kissing her once, gently. "I've still got to talk to her," he said.

Her eyes tightened slightly. "I wish you wouldn't," she said, but when he just looked at her she sighed and stepped away from the door.

…nw…nw…nw…

"What happened to trying?"

I jumped and closed my eyes, shaking my head furiously. "Don't," I said.

"Adenah, you're being selfish."

I couldn't bear to look at his expression. I already felt ashamed; did I really need his disappointment and anger?

So I stood up, still not looking at him and tried to dart past him to get away, but he caught my arm and pulled me back. The rough movements were a shock and I yelped as a pain shot through my shoulder. "You're not going anywhere until you talk to me."

I fell against the floor and looked up at him in shock and my entire body went cold at the expression in his eyes. For the first time, I could see who he had been before he had joined Circle Daybreak. How cold and merciless he would have had to have been. He had murdered people before, I'd known that but I hadn't truly believed that it was really _him_.

Until now. Maybe this part of him wasn't an important part, but it was still there. I could see that now.

The past affects people a lot more than they let on.

I pushed away from him and the expression left his eyes, all of a sudden. "I'm sorry," he said. He ducked down next to me. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

I shook my head – the pain was already gone – but didn't say anything.

"This was supposed to be perfect," he said.

"And if I wasn't here it would be?" I muttered under my breath. Of course he heard.

"No. If you weren't so much like your mother it would be."

I crossed my legs and narrowed my eyes at him but he just smiled and shook his head. "I don't see how I am."

"She would have reacted the same way at your age."

I stayed quiet and didn't move when he kissed the top of my head. "You're going to talk to her," he said, gently but still firmly. I grimaced and ducked my head down so he wouldn't see. "Tonight you'll talk to her, okay?"

"Okay," I lied. And then he left the room.

I bit my lip as I looked around my room and stood up. I knew the best thing to do. Before dad did it. I had to leave. I got it now; it was _me_ making them unhappy. If dad had been alone before, if they'd never had me, they would be happy.

I dragged a rucksack from under my bed and upended it, pausing slightly when the leather jacket – mum's old leather jacket – fell out. I lifted it from the ground and put it on again. It was still slightly too large, but the leather was as soft as ever. A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed it away, blinking back tears as I took it off again and dropped it on my bed. I packed a few changes of clothes and all the money I had in my room, and then paused again before pulling the photo albums out from under the bed.

Just to remember my past life, I told myself. They both fit comfortably in the bag and I put it over my back, taking one last look at my room before opening the window and climbing down to the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, seriously, thanks guys. Those reviews pretty much brought this fic back from the grave… I think I may actually get to Huntress V.**

**Replies to reviews:**

**Guest – Keep in mind that she's only 12 and her entire world has changed. She's the type of person who is more negative. Glass half empty and all that. But I do agree; she's a bit selfish. I have a love-hate relationship with her. Thanks for the review :)**

**Im EunJung – She will. I have something pretty cool planned for her. But not yet. I think it would be a bit weird if she discovered her soulmate at 12 years old. Thanks for the review :)**

**I don't own Night World.**

**Chapter 10**

I got halfway down the road before I stopped and looked back.

Was I actually doing this? Was I so unsure of how much dad loved me that I would skip out, without telling anyone? I was pretty sure mum _couldn't_ love me anymore (not after I told her that I hated her) but dad wouldn't be the same?

I shook my head and dug my hands into my pockets, wrapping my hands tight around my iPod. I wasn't sure how long the battery would last, but there was no way I could have left it.

The thing was, dad _wasn't_ the same. He had been disconnected before, and now he was so quick to everything, as if his emotions were close to the surface. For a few weeks he'd walked around in that happy cloud, but now that we… no, _they_, were resuming pretty normal lives, he just seemed more volatile. I touched my shoulder and bit my lip, swallowing down the lump in my throat that threatened to choke me with tears. He had hurt me. Not much; the pain was completely gone now, but what about the next time?

_Stupid, he didn't mean to. You said you hated her. Go back. Go back._

No.

I set my jaw, my gaze steady on the house. Nothing of it seemed out of the ordinary. It was any house in the outskirts with Vegas. Maybe if I went back now it would all have been some sort of bizarre dream; mum wasn't back. She'd died just as she should have.

"_He was completely broke__n without her." _Raven's words ran through my head and I sighed slightly. Maybe he was happier with her. So maybe I should just get out of the way.

_No looking back, Adenah,_ I thought to myself. _It's you and you alone._

…nw…nw…nw…

"So are you feeling better?" Morgead asked.

Jez narrowed her eyes slightly. "Just let it go." But she stayed on the bed, her arms still wrapped tightly around her legs. Morgead sighed and kissed the top of her head.

"She'll talk to you soon. Just… let her stay in there for a little bit more. Maybe she'll feel a bit guilty."

"I don't want her to feel _guilty_. It's a perfectly natural reaction–"

"How, exactly?"

"–and I don't blame her," she continued, ignoring him. Turning away, she bit her lip. It was true, she didn't blame Adenah. After weeks of carrying it around with her, it was bound to come out at some point. _But did it have to be _me_?_ The thought was childish, but comforting, somehow.

"If only you could have stayed," Morgead said wistfully.

She looked at him. He was still hurting. Even though she was back, the remembrances of what he'd been through were still in his eyes. No matter what she did, that pain would always be there, because she would never be how she was before. She would never be as strong, as powerful. The way he treated her was fundamentally different; he held her as if she would break.

Sometimes she felt like she might.

She let her arms drop and stretched her legs out in front of her. "If she wants to talk to me," she started.

Morgead frowned. "I don't care whether she _wants_ to or not. She has to."

"She shouldn't _have _to do anything."

He swore under his breath and glowered at her. "Yes she should. She's twelve. She needs boundaries."

"Since when did _we_ know anything about boundaries? What would you have been doing at her age?"

He smiled ruefully. "Staying the hell away from my mother."

She was slightly surprised, but gave a short laugh. "Exactly."

"But she's more like you."

"I don't know about that."

"She's stubborn."

Jez crossed her arms. "So are you."

"Hot-headed," he added.

"I'm not hot-headed," Jez retorted, getting ready to hit him (gently, though), until she saw the smile playing around his lips and she couldn't help grinning back.

"Feeling better now?" he asked, pushing her hair back over her shoulder. His fingers brushed lightly over her neck and she shivered before leaning forwards and kissing him.

Of course. He always knew exactly what to do.

…nw..nw…nw…

She went downstairs when she started feeling hungry and looked blankly through the cupboards. Human food was just so _boring_. She sighed to herself before getting the ingredients together for some sort of salad. It was times like this that it was most difficult to resist the lure of human blood. Her vampire nature was gently pushing at her to just find one person. No need to even kill. And anyway, some humans deserved it.

She shook her head, trying to focus on something other than the dull ache in her incisors. _No_ human deserved it. Anyway, logically she should kill herself if that were the case. She had killed and hurt so many humans over the years; whether they had been what the gang deemed 'innocent' or not.

Tapping her fingers on the wood of the counter, her gaze fell on the cat.

The story had been quite amusing. Morgead had told her that when Adenah was nine she'd brought the wounded kitten home and looked after it on the sly, hiding it in her closet and letting it out if ever the rest of the guys from Circle Daybreak forced him to go on some kind of outing to lift his morale and such. Until the one time when she didn't realise the cat had gotten out and was lying contentedly on his bed, purring like some kind of machine. However many times Morgead had tried to keep it out it kept on coming back, until he gave up.

Jez crouched next to the cat and stroked the soft fur on his head. She'd never liked animals much in general, but Adenah seemed to. Morgead had mentioned in passing at one point that Adenah could ride horses and had asked on several occasions if they could get a dog. Not to mention her musical skill. She'd been in a state of shock when she'd heard Adenah playing guitar.

Her heart was filled with so much pride for the wonderful person Adenah obviously _was_ (when she wasn't terrified about her future) that tears started obscuring her vision. She sighed and shook her head. She loved Adenah, as powerfully as she loved Morgead. She'd been the first one to hold Adenah, the first one to love her and to know that she was _there_. And she would be damned if she didn't try her hardest to get the relationship back to how it was when Adenah had been a toddler.

She straightened and distractedly picked through the salad. Starting small was always good. She could ask what she wanted for dinner and hope that she didn't answer with some sarcastic remark.

"It's show time," she muttered, looking down at where the cat was rubbing against her legs.

But she froze when she opened the door to Adenah's room and she wasn't there. She started to back out – being found in her room when she wasn't there wouldn't make their relationship any sweeter.

But at that moment, a car passed by, headlights on, and the slight illumination of the room let Jez see what was on the bed and she was struck by the familiarity. She stepped forwards slowly, feeling as if she were in a dream and picked up the leather jacket. Adenah had taken it? She ran her fingers over the bullet hole.

This was familiar. Too familiar. She had left the jacket behind all those years ago when she'd left the gang, and now… Adenah wasn't here.

The panic that shot through her had Morgead at the door in seconds. "What's wrong?" he asked. But then he tensed. His eyes narrowed and he swore under his breath before going to the window and opening it.

"She's gone," Jez said weakly, clutching onto the jacket as if it were a life-line. Even the familiar feel of the leather wasn't enough to stop her from settling back against the wall, her hand covering her face. "This is my fault."

"Jez…" he shook his head. "Don't even. I'm calling Thierry. She goes there a lot anyway." He left the room and started down the stairs.

Jez sank down to the floor, still holding the jacket. As well as everything else, she felt powerless. What could she do?

After collecting herself a bit more she stood up and brushed off her jeans. If anything, she could go with Morgead to see whether Adenah was at Thierry's mansion and just hadn't felt up to saying that she was going. Following Morgead's voice, she found him in the kitchen, tensely gripping the wooden countertop. He caught Jez's eye and shook his head slightly before hanging up the phone.

"Nothing," he said. "He's getting a few agents out to look for her. I'm going to call Raven and Val."

Jez nodded and looked out of the window. They had no idea even which _direction_ she'd gone in.

There was no luck with Raven and Val. Morgead put the phone down, shaking his head, then looked up sharply. Jez followed his gaze and her breath caught in her throat. _Werewolves_. Some kind of ambush attack, there were four of them.

_How did they _find_ us?_ Jez asked herself, but there was no way she could think about it too much. It had been a long time since she'd fought properly, but she was surprised by how easily her body was flowing from one movement to the next, as if she were still a vampire hunter. Everything seemed clearer, as if she'd woken up from a long sleep. She noticed everything; the moves the werewolves were about to make, Morgead's familiar fighting style next to her, the slight ache in muscles that proved that she was truly alive. She flashed a smile to the werewolf when he bared his teeth at her.

But then someone else rounded the corner and she faltered slightly. Obviously a vampire – his fangs were out – and he had Adenah in front of him, a hand at her throat.

…nw…nw…nw…

It got easier the further away I got from the house. I didn't really know where I was going; probably somewhere in the desert where I could hunt easily. I still couldn't help shooting looks over my shoulder. Had they realised I was gone? Now had they realised?

I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. _What now?_ I was twelve years old. I had no money, and unless I drank human blood and learnt very quickly how to influence people I had no way of getting any.

_Maybe you should turn back and try again._

No. That was the last thing I could do. I could handle being on my own.

Funny how I was thinking that when it happened.

"Adenah Blackthorn."

I looked up in shock at my name. The man standing in front of me had a slight silvery sheen to his eyes which suggested he was a vampire. I stopped and shifted backwards. I hadn't been taught how to fight, but I was a fast runner.

"What are you doing here on your own?" he said, a slight macabre glee to his voice.

It could just be my imagination. Maybe I just didn't recognise him and he was an old friend of mum and dad's or something.

Still…

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, turning to dart over to the other side of the road. He followed me easily, which set up warning alarm bells in my head.

"Oh no, no need for that. I just need a way to talk to your mother."

"My mother's dead," I said automatically, bluntly.

He frowned. "I know she isn't." His hand reached out and he tried to grab hold of my arm, but I was just about able to dodge out of his way. His eyes narrowed and he jumped forwards, closer to me and managed to get a pincer-like grip on my shoulder. I let out a much too girlie screech and jumped away. Thankfully the leather of my coat was slippery so I slid out quite easily and kicked back with one foot, congratulating myself silently when it connected with heavy bone and the vampire grunted, but I didn't waste time, setting off at a sprint the only place I really wanted to be.

Home.

I managed to out-run him for a couple of blocks – he couldn't really grab me on the busier streets anyway – but then as I turned onto my road he jumped and caught my shoulders. I fell onto the ground, just about breaking the fall with my hands and arms, but as I was distracted he put his hand around my neck, tight enough that it was slightly uncomfortable to breathe.

"Let me _go_," I said, trying to sound firm and commanding, but my panic shone through. He dodged the backward kicks I tried to administer.

"You can go now," he suddenly said and I paused for a minute, confused, until four people ran past right in the direction of my house.

"No!" I started shouting, but the vampire put his hand roughly over my mouth. "Let me _go!_" I shouted into his palm, but it was muffled. We were far enough away that mum and dad never would hear.

"We just need to find out more about your mother," he said in a gentle voice. Deceptively gentle. "Not many people have returned from the dead."

"She doesn't know how," I mumbled into his palm. "None of us do."

"She must have an idea."

"No she _doesn't_," I said, accompanying it with an extra struggle to break out of his grip. There was a low rumble in his chest as he growled and pushed me forwards, closer to the house.

I saw mum and dad fighting (I hadn't realised how good they actually _were_) but mum froze when she saw me. She shook her head slightly. The expression in her eyes froze me in place and everything from before just seemed so petty and stupid. Sure, she wasn't exactly the same as people had always said, but it had been almost ten years that she was stuck in an actual dungeon. But I supposed one thing hadn't changed; she still loved me. I was still her daughter.

The relief that washed through me was so… _calming_. I knew my parents were good fighters.

But my heart froze to a shard of ice when the vampire shifted his hand so that it was slightly difficult for me to breathe. "Stop fighting, or I'll break her neck."

I couldn't help the tremble that ran through me and both mum and dad stopped. "Just let her go," dad said. "She's not a part of this." His voice was tense.

"It's the easiest way to make you talk," the vampire said bluntly. "Now I want to know how you managed to come back to life."

I expected mum to flinch, back away slightly and look to dad for reassurance, but instead she stepped forward. "Let go of her," she said firmly. Her eyes flashed silver. "Unless you _have_ a death wish."

A slight panicked expression crossed dad's face and he caught hold of her wrist, yanking her backwards a couple of steps. "Let go of me," she muttered to him, shooting a glare in his direction. He just shook his head.

"How did you manage to come back to life, Jezebel? Right now, you should be dead."

Mum crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I don't know," she answered stiffly. "Now let my daughter go." Her voice wasn't loud, but from the uncomfortable shifting of the vampire I could tell he was worried. There was something dangerous in her tone, almost as if something powerful was speaking through her.

The vampire gave a hiss and tightened his grip on my neck. My struggling and kicking out did nothing but distract me from what was happening around me, and before I had put my focus back on mum the world was enveloped in blue. I yelped as the vampire vanished from behind me and collapsed onto my knees. It was… unlike anything I'd ever experienced. Mixtures of flames jumping wildly and electricity arcing, but none of it touched me. I could do nothing but tremble and try to hold on, somehow. It made me feel as if I was about to go floating off.

And then all of it disappeared quickly. Dad was the first one I saw, and soon after I saw mum with wide eyes, staring at me. "Adenah!" she said in obvious relief. She ran forwards and ducked down next to me but made no move to touch me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to be so powerful."

I blinked at her. "You're still a Wild Power? I thought…" I trailed off and mum shrugged.

"Maybe it comes back when I really need it."

I bit my lip and took deep breaths, trying to calm the frantic beating of my heart. "Mum…" I said. I looked away, though I could still feel her watching me steadily. "I'm sorry," I said in a small voice. "I've… I've been such an idiot."

"Of course you haven't," mum said. She touched my shoulder gently. "Anyone would have reacted the same."

"You can forgive me, then?" I hunched my shoulders. "For everything?"

She smiled at me. "There's nothing to forgive, Adenah."

My eyes started prickling and I moved forwards to lean my head on her shoulder. She hugged my tightly and stroked my hair, rocking me as if I was still a little child. It was comforting, and familiar somehow. A part of me remembered what it was before.

Dad came to sit with us after a few quiet moments. I didn't think it would be easy, adjusting to all these changes, but at least now I knew that having an actual family was worth it.

**So the ending came a bit quicker than I had expected. But, anyway, Huntress IV will be around soon enough, I think. I think I'm going to plan for it, though. The reason Huntress III took so long was because I pretty much made it up as I went along. Whoops…**

**Thank you so much for reading.**

**~Jynxiii xxx**


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